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In the UK we can buy Italian minced garlic (Gia brand) in a tube (like tubes of tomato puree) and it's pretty good, though a bit salty. Much better than the jar

In the UK we can buy Italian minced garlic (Gia brand) in a tube (like tubes of tomato puree) and it's pretty good, though a bit salty. Much better than the jars of oil-preserved garlic I've tried. However my mind was blown when I discovered frozen minced garlic, and frozen minced chillies which are now pretty widely available in supermarkets here. Once the block has melted in the pan they're basically indistinguishable from fresh. The frozen minced green chillies are also great because, being made from a mixture of chillies, the heat is basically standardised, so there's no risk of accidentally making the dish unsatisfactory to eat because one of the chillies was unexpectedly potent, or nearly as bad, unexpectedly weak.

philliphaydon 4y ago
But those serve 2 different purposes. The diced garlic in preserved oil is good for cooking in a pan, but the tube of garlic is handy when you want to mix it with butter to make a dip or sauce. I wouldn't use the tube while cooking.
- marmarama 4y ago
  If I need diced garlic then sure, though I'd probably just chop garlic cloves for that. For me the inconvenience of garlic comes from getting it to minced texture to maximise the flavour - peeling it's not that big an issue once you've learned the 'gently crush it with the side of the knife' technique. But I can't really think of a dish I cook regularly where I must have diced garlic as opposed to minced. Even making aglio e olio I'm perfectly happy with frying minced garlic. You get much more garlic flavour for the same amount of garlic that way, and because you cook it lower and slower (larger surface area) there's less chance of burning the outside and making everything bitter.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    Living in Singapore I discovered the diced garlic, it opened a whole new world. I love LOVE garlic but I hate the smell on my fingers that lingers after dicing up alot of garlic. So being able to throw like a few table spoons in the pan for cooking stir fry or such instead of dicing up 10 cloves is handy. And I don't need extra oil. But the tube stuff, if you soften butter, mix butter, tube garlic, and any spices you like, then put that on bread or use it as a dip, omg. :-0~~~~ sooo good. Both have their usages. Soup I just throw the cloves in the soup without peeling. Or use black garlic. Chicken soup made with black garlic is the beez kneez.
    - marmarama 4y ago
      Slow-roasted vegetables with unpeeled garlic cloves is one of my favourite lazy dishes. 5 minutes to prep: chop whatever veg is in the fridge, stick it in a roasting dish, smother in oil, healthy sprinkling of chunky salt crystals and black pepper, maybe add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden, give it a stir and a shake, slam it in the oven at 180C, come back and stir it every 30 minutes until it looks good enough to eat (usually about the 90 minute mark for me but depends on how fine I chopped the veg). Yum.
      - philliphaydon 4y ago
        Making me hungry now.
- karaterobot 4y ago
  You're being downvoted, but I had the same thought. The garlic paste is going to be stronger in flavor than the diced garlic. If you use it, you'd need to adjust the recipe. This has nothing to do with gatekeeping: diced in oil or squeezed out of a tube are both fine, they're just not 1:1 equivalent.
vr46 4y ago
I shop a lot at the Indian supermarkets in the UK and frozen blocks of ginger, garlic etc are totally normal. If anyone called my parents or relatives idiots or say they were unable to cook, when Indians basically make nearly everything from scratch, I would have told them to f-off and take their snobbery with them.
globular-toast 4y ago
If you regularly do Indian cooking it's a good idea to make your own ginger and garlic paste and freeze it in ice cube trays. It takes maybe 10 minutes to make a batch that will last a month. It's well worth it and costs probably a fraction what those pre-made ones cost.
- marmarama 4y ago
  I'd struggle to beat the supermarket frozen garlic blocks on price. My local supermarket sells the 400g bags of frozen minced garlic at £0.95. The same supermarket sells 4 fresh garlic bulbs weighing approx. 280g for £0.99.
  - Xylakant 4y ago
    The same holds true for essentially every frozen vegetable. I believe the reason is that there’s less work and less wastage in the frozen product. It’s taken straight from the field to the factory without much chance to spoil, and the frozen product it simple to handle and doesn’t spoil easily any more. Fundamentally, I’d also believe that in most cases, buying the frozen product instead of buying fresh and then freeze will give you a superior product since it’s much fresher when it is processed.
    - taylodl 4y ago
      It’s taken straight from the field to the factory without much chance to spoil, and the frozen product it simple to handle and doesn’t spoil easily any more. Thanks! I'd never really thought about it that way. That makes a lot of sense!
    - swatcoder 4y ago
      Those economics probably apply to some level, but the difference is more about the grade/quality of produce that can be hidden in a freezer bag of processed chunks vs what consumers expect to see in a grocers bin of fresh veggies. Ugly cheap bulk and semi-failed crops can go to processing and more carefully/successfully produced stuff goes to various grocers. In the US at least, you’ll also see differences in grade depending on the demographic of the grocery store. Community markets will sell cheaper produce that’s maybe softer, less ripe, more bruised, or just kind ugly and bougie markets will sell pretty veggies at higher price+margin. https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables
patwolf 4y ago
I've completely converted over to frozen minced garlic. I especially like that it comes in a blister pack you can push out without having to get garlic all over your hands. I also buy cilantro frozen as well now too since dried cilantro is basically useless and I waste too much when I buy fresh.
christkv 4y ago
Frozen minced garlic, onions, peppers and roasted vegetables are staples for all kinds of weekday stews.
- smegger001 4y ago
  personally i buy large amounts of onions and carmalize and then can them for latter use. Its major time saver and gives a quick savory flavor boost to any dish without having to cut and brown the onions which takes a long time if your are in a hurry which with three children and working full time
zamalek 4y ago
Frozen food is very likely to be fresher than "fresh produce." Unless you're driving down to the farm and buying it on the day. Dip into more frozen food. It's cheap and extremely tasty.

philliphaydon 4y ago

But those serve 2 different purposes. The diced garlic in preserved oil is good for cooking in a pan, but the tube of garlic is handy when you want to mix it with butter to make a dip or sauce. I wouldn't use the tube while cooking.

marmarama 4y ago
If I need diced garlic then sure, though I'd probably just chop garlic cloves for that. For me the inconvenience of garlic comes from getting it to minced texture to maximise the flavour - peeling it's not that big an issue once you've learned the 'gently crush it with the side of the knife' technique. But I can't really think of a dish I cook regularly where I must have diced garlic as opposed to minced. Even making aglio e olio I'm perfectly happy with frying minced garlic. You get much more garlic flavour for the same amount of garlic that way, and because you cook it lower and slower (larger surface area) there's less chance of burning the outside and making everything bitter.
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  Living in Singapore I discovered the diced garlic, it opened a whole new world. I love LOVE garlic but I hate the smell on my fingers that lingers after dicing up alot of garlic. So being able to throw like a few table spoons in the pan for cooking stir fry or such instead of dicing up 10 cloves is handy. And I don't need extra oil. But the tube stuff, if you soften butter, mix butter, tube garlic, and any spices you like, then put that on bread or use it as a dip, omg. :-0~~~~ sooo good. Both have their usages. Soup I just throw the cloves in the soup without peeling. Or use black garlic. Chicken soup made with black garlic is the beez kneez.
  - marmarama 4y ago
    Slow-roasted vegetables with unpeeled garlic cloves is one of my favourite lazy dishes. 5 minutes to prep: chop whatever veg is in the fridge, stick it in a roasting dish, smother in oil, healthy sprinkling of chunky salt crystals and black pepper, maybe add a few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden, give it a stir and a shake, slam it in the oven at 180C, come back and stir it every 30 minutes until it looks good enough to eat (usually about the 90 minute mark for me but depends on how fine I chopped the veg). Yum.
    - philliphaydon 4y ago
      Making me hungry now.
karaterobot 4y ago
You're being downvoted, but I had the same thought. The garlic paste is going to be stronger in flavor than the diced garlic. If you use it, you'd need to adjust the recipe. This has nothing to do with gatekeeping: diced in oil or squeezed out of a tube are both fine, they're just not 1:1 equivalent.

vr46 4y ago

I shop a lot at the Indian supermarkets in the UK and frozen blocks of ginger, garlic etc are totally normal. If anyone called my parents or relatives idiots or say they were unable to cook, when Indians basically make nearly everything from scratch, I would have told them to f-off and take their snobbery with them.

globular-toast 4y ago

If you regularly do Indian cooking it's a good idea to make your own ginger and garlic paste and freeze it in ice cube trays. It takes maybe 10 minutes to make a batch that will last a month. It's well worth it and costs probably a fraction what those pre-made ones cost.

marmarama 4y ago
I'd struggle to beat the supermarket frozen garlic blocks on price. My local supermarket sells the 400g bags of frozen minced garlic at £0.95. The same supermarket sells 4 fresh garlic bulbs weighing approx. 280g for £0.99.
- Xylakant 4y ago
  The same holds true for essentially every frozen vegetable. I believe the reason is that there’s less work and less wastage in the frozen product. It’s taken straight from the field to the factory without much chance to spoil, and the frozen product it simple to handle and doesn’t spoil easily any more. Fundamentally, I’d also believe that in most cases, buying the frozen product instead of buying fresh and then freeze will give you a superior product since it’s much fresher when it is processed.
  - taylodl 4y ago
    It’s taken straight from the field to the factory without much chance to spoil, and the frozen product it simple to handle and doesn’t spoil easily any more. Thanks! I'd never really thought about it that way. That makes a lot of sense!
  - swatcoder 4y ago
    Those economics probably apply to some level, but the difference is more about the grade/quality of produce that can be hidden in a freezer bag of processed chunks vs what consumers expect to see in a grocers bin of fresh veggies. Ugly cheap bulk and semi-failed crops can go to processing and more carefully/successfully produced stuff goes to various grocers. In the US at least, you’ll also see differences in grade depending on the demographic of the grocery store. Community markets will sell cheaper produce that’s maybe softer, less ripe, more bruised, or just kind ugly and bougie markets will sell pretty veggies at higher price+margin. https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables

patwolf 4y ago

I've completely converted over to frozen minced garlic. I especially like that it comes in a blister pack you can push out without having to get garlic all over your hands. I also buy cilantro frozen as well now too since dried cilantro is basically useless and I waste too much when I buy fresh.

christkv 4y ago

Frozen minced garlic, onions, peppers and roasted vegetables are staples for all kinds of weekday stews.

smegger001 4y ago
personally i buy large amounts of onions and carmalize and then can them for latter use. Its major time saver and gives a quick savory flavor boost to any dish without having to cut and brown the onions which takes a long time if your are in a hurry which with three children and working full time

zamalek 4y ago

Frozen food is very likely to be fresher than "fresh produce." Unless you're driving down to the farm and buying it on the day. Dip into more frozen food. It's cheap and extremely tasty.